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Governor Greg Gianforte submitted a System Operational Request to the Columbia River Technical Management Team (TMT) to address low water levels in Flathead Lake.
A regional water management team on Friday opted not to alleviate Flathead Lake’s low water level by increasing flows out of Hungry Horse Reservoir.
After deliberating for nearly two hours, members of the Columbia River Technical Management Team said the plan wouldn’t be compliant with state and federal laws, nor would it actually mitigate the negative effects of the lake being low.
Global temperatures reached their warmest in decades, if not longer, last week as the state heads into its hottest weekend so far this year, possibly pushing up to 100 degrees
Drought and a quick-melting snowpack have put Flathead Lake at record-low levels, and anglers are under the first fishing restrictions of the season on portions of the Sun and Madison rivers due to warm water temperatures and low flows.